When did the magic die out for wwe? This is not a console war thread, I just wanted to get a read on what’s going on with wwe. It seemed like they were on a tear just a couple of years ago but it seems to have really cooled off. What caused it exactly? It feels like there’s no real buzz anymore. Is there an exact moment in time where something happened?
>>21103193it stopped after cody and roman teamed up on ppv in a tag match, and lasted til about summerslam this year where they see to be actually gaining some good will again with the lucha stuff and cm punks title reign
>>211031932002
>>21103193Unironically signing Phil againI swear he’s cursed
>>21103193The last real moment they had was Cena's heel turn and that was badly fumbled
>>21103193When Austin Turned heelWCW died and did that shitty invasion angleThe final nail in the coffin was when it went PG.Now its just slop
>>21103229yeah the wm that year was a disaster and they never recovered from it
>>21103193for me it was when they introduced cena. vince gave this whole long speech about RUTHLESS AGGRESSION™ and it just felt so fucking forced, like he wanted to redo the attitude era but instead of letting it happen somewhat organically he had to lay out all the pieces exactly how he wanted them and tell you in advance how you were supposed to feel about it. he changed from unhinged booker/wrestler/villain to overconfident marketing jew and it put me off wwe for good.
>>21103193The decline started in 2008, the collapse started in 2015 when they started to force push Roman
When The Rock told them to fuck off
>>21103193WrestleMania 41 had a very disappointing main event. After John Cena's heel turn at Elimination Chamber was perfectly executed, people were expecting an excellent story, and it just didn't happen. So there were bad feelings about that, and I think then people were in the mood to just complain about everything. This year's WrestleMania was also severely fucked up by executive interference, although I thought Cody vs Randy was still really good, and Roman vs Punk was one of the best WrestleMania main events ever. Basically, there have been problems, but the show has been excellent lately, and I'm really interested in how Cody's character is developing.
>>21103229The turn itself was so fucking good. Didn't even mind Travis Scott. (of course bad in hindsight) Crazy how they didn't even bother coming up with a story to follow it. Must have been some internal politics going on between H and Rock.
>>21103408>although I thought Cody vs Randy was still really good"good" would be a forgivable opinion but "Really good" informs the reader that there's something wrong with your gay ass
>>21103409I'm looking forward to Cody's inevitable book where he gives his perspective on what was going on during all this. I believe Cody is the greatest top guy in the history of wrestling, because for the last THREE YEARS, they've tried to fuck on him in the main event of WrestleMania, but he's still the top guy because of the connection he's made with the audience.
>>21103193That Wrestlemania 40 buildup was the last time I was deeply into a WWE storylineDwayne was doing peak final boss shit, and there was still hunger for Cody to win the beltGod I'm pissed they couldn't maintain that momentum
>>21103418I thought there was nothing wrong with the match itself. I even appreciated how it started with Jelly Roll taking Pat McAfee out so it could just be Cody and Roman like it always should've been. And I also absolutely loved how Cody won the match the exact same way Randy won the chamber match, dirty. Watching Cody learn that nice guys finish last has been really good character development.
>>21103424That's like being pissed that the Beach Boys never made another album as good as Pet Sounds. Nobody ever has. It was uniquely perfect, and it's not fair to expect the show to always be that good.
>>21103193When you stopped being a child
>>21103429Oops, meant for >>21103422And actually, I'd say the buildup and execution of the mask vs mask match in AAA was at least as good as Cody finishing the story. True lightning in a bottle moment.
100 percent it was the Benoit incident.
>>21103424if i kick you in the balls first and then hug you will the hug be really good because its relative to the kick in the balls? is wrestling characterized by a single spot and some 'character development' that is a kick in the balls? opinions aren't wrong but your criteria is goycattle coded
>>21103193In general? The day after wrestlemania x7.Recently? TKO and Netflix.
>>21103193WWE has sucked since the ruthless aggression dumpster fire
>>21103193Raw to TNN and Raw to Netflix has been a double tap shot.
>>21103193Two WOAT manias in a row will do that.
>>21103193Royal rumble 2025
>>21103193I was one of the biggest WWE fans in the world circa 2018ish. The booking was late stage Vince nonsense but it was goofy fun.Then the next year AEW came around and I realized what pro wrestling actually could be.I'd never really been exposed to great wrestling on that level.Haven't watched WWE since the pandemic. AEW just completely took over my wrestling taste.
>>21103193They got on a roll and had.a.bhmch of goodwill.after signing back people Vince fired. Then Triple H sucked at booking and did nothing with all those people, lost the goodwill, and now it feels like the same corporate soul sucking place it was before Vince.
>>21103787the two day ppv thing really sucks. way to dilute the biggest event in wrestling.
WWE failed on like 4 big pushes in a row with Priest, Gunther, The MFT's and Aleister Black not getting as over as they were supposed to.They broke up the Priest/Dom/Rhea/Finn Judgment Day team and Raw was not the same without it.The Bloodline story basically never ended. Roman coming back meant he was going to beat and humiliate everyone all over again. They turned Jey Uso back into a midcarder and are doing whatever the hell they are doing with Jacob Fatu instead of letting him be a main eventer.We had a ton of injuries.TKO told people to take it easy on PPV's to prevent injuries and has just done a lot of stuff that was unfriendly to fans over the last 2 years.And 2025 was just built around stories that didn't have great payoffs with Cena and The Rock. I truly believe someone else gained booking power behind the scenes and kicked out the person who gave us the golden year we had in 2023-2024.
>>21103193>When did the magic die out for wwe?Cena
>we
>>21104923Honestly thisAfter all in the other day I’m just an aew fan nowI am so bored of wwe these days
>>21103206Only good answer in the thread
>>21105468Good post.>I truly believe someone else gained booking power behind the scenes and kicked out the person who gave us the golden year we had in 2023-2024.It's either that or:a) vince was still involved and had a lot of influence (which has basically been admitted by now)b) TKO took way more of a hands-on approach starting in 2025
>>21106460>b) TKO took way more of a hands-on approach starting in 2025this is more likely imo
>>21103424>I even appreciated how it started with Jelly Roll taking Pat McAfee outWatching edrones talk about WWE unironically is so embarrassing
>>21103193I think most of the complaints started during the EU tour right after Wrestlemania XL. It was clear they had no direction for Cody and his title reign was boring as fuck until Cena came in and helped mask how shit WWE's creative is.In general? The main killer for me that made me stop watching is the same reason thay I stopped watching AEW which is dropping angles out of nowhere and wrestlers disappearing for months. Why get invested as a fan? And who can forget about all the AI slop theme songs, celebrities and ads?
>>21106954The overall product from top to bottom is so shit now
>>21106954The #1 problem with current booking is that winning a title is a demotion. Once you win a title you immediately lose any storylines, and barely do anything on the shows. All your feuds simply become "I want that title" and have no other layer or draw to them.Cody, Liv, Dom, Gunther, Punk, literally doesn't matter who the champion is, they just become a generic title holder who has a match every few months against the designated contender.They have 30 writers, but absolutely no actual storylines anymore
literally january 6th, 2025 lmao. fed has yet to recover from that date because tko has poisoned it that much. wwe has not been good since 2024
>>21103193After Cena stopped being the guy
It’s always been bad. That said I think the booking and performances could be completely on point and it’s not going to matter cause now the whole thing is full of ads that you know didn’t exist 5 years ago.
>>21106460I appreciate it. Yeah, that other person may indeed be TKO.
>>21107598Cena killed what HHH and JBL wounded.
>>21108047There was nothing wrong with CenaPost Cena WWE is soulless garbage
>>21108063>There was nothing wrong with CenaAnon HE was soulless garbage
>>21103193Once the credits rolled after WM 17
